Anchor



United States Patent ANCHOR James P. Marshburn and Henry W. Willis, Snow Hill, N. 'C., assignors of ten percent to William R. Hodge, Washington, D. C.

Application May 2, 1957, Serial No. 656,583

4 Claims. (Cl. 114-208) The present invention relates generally to marine anchors and more particularly to a novel latching means for rolling anchors.

Rolling anchors, as provided in the prior art, generally comprise a hollow cylindrical body having a hollow hub extending transverse thereto and secured to one end thereof. A shaft is rotatably disposed within the hub and has disposed on either end thereof a fluke assembly each having a plurality of flukes. A spring pressed pin extends through the hollow body and engages an opening or recess in the shaft when it is desired to lock the flukes in a given position with respect to the'hollow body. In' order to release the shaft so that the flukes and the shaft may rotate with respect to the hollow body there is normally provided a means which may be actuated from the craft associated with the anchor for lifting the spring press pin out of the recess or aperture in the shaft.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a novel latch release means for raising the spring pressed pin out of the recess in the shaft and more specifically the latch mechanism is integral with the eye to which the anchor cable is attached. The eye to which the cable is attached comprises a metallic loop having arms extending into the hollow shaft at diametricallyopposed points on the circumference of the hollow member. The inner ends of the arms of the eye have disposed thereon cam surfaces located under a plate secured to the upper end of the spring pressed pin. The cams are so arranged on the ends of the arms of the eye that when the eye is aligned with the hollow shaft, the spring pressed pin is allowed to enter the recess in the shaft, while when the eye is disposed at right angles to the hollow shaft or cylinder, the cams raise the spring pressed pin so as to permit rotation of the shaft with respect to the hollow cylinder. In consequence the spring pressed pin may be raised or lowered by merely changing the location of the boat with respect to the anchor and pulling on the anchor cable. The release mechanism thus provided includes the anchor cable eye and a single spring pressed member, and therefore is rugged, easily fabricated and is not readily susceptible to damage or sticking due to corrosion.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a latching device for rolling anchors which is simple, rugged and easily fabricated.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel latch for rolling anchors which permits the re-- lease of the fluke assemblies by merely changing the position of a craft with respect to the anchor.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an automatic latch for latching the fluke assembly of a rolling anchor with respect to the remainder of the anchor.

The above and still further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of one specific embodiment thereof, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

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Figure 1 is a front elevation of the rolling anchor to which the latching mechanism of the present invention may be applied Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along 2-2 of Figure 1; and p Figure 3 is an elevation of the anchor illustrated in Figure 1 with the outer cylinder partly removed.

Referring now particularly to Figures 1-3 of the ac companying drawings, there is provided a marine anchor having a hollow cylindrical body 1, illustrated in the vertical position, having a hollow hub 2 secured to the lower end of the body 1 and disposed perpendicular thereto. Disposed within the hub 2 is a shaft '3 which extends outwardly from both ends of the hub 2 and has disposed on each of the ends a fluke assembly 4. The shaft 3 is provided with a recess 5 having a limited arcuate length and is aligned with and adapted to receive a spring pressed pin 6 which is slidably. mounted centrally of the hollow cylinder 1. The pin 6 is guided by bushings 7 and 8 disposed adjacent the upper end and lower end of the cylinder 1 respectively. Secured to the upper end of the pin 6 and preferably integral therewith is a circular plate 9 extending perpendicular to the pin 6. The upper surface of the plate 9 is engaged by a compression spring 10 retained within the hollow cylinder 1 by a. cap 11 having threads engaging threads on the inner surface of the upper end of the hollow cylinder 1.

The anchor is provided with an eye hook 12 adapted in accordance with the present invention to control latching and unlatching of the shaft 3 and in consequence of the fluke assemblies 4. The lower end of the eye 12 is provided with two inwardly extending arms 13 and 14 which pass through diametrically opposed apertures 15 and 16 in the wall of the cylinder 1 above the bushing 7 and below the plate 9 on the end of the pin 6. The ends of the arms 15 and 16 disposed within the hollowcylinder 1 are provided with cams 17 and 18, respectively, which are adapted to raise the pin 6 when it is desired to release the shaft 3. More specifically, the cams 17 and 18 each comprise a short length of round stock mutually perpendicular to its associated arm 15 or 16 and the plane of the eye 11.

When it is desired to lock the shaft 3, the eye 12 is maintained aligned with the hollow cylinder 1 at which time the cams 17 and 18 are disposed parallel to the plate 9 and permits the pin 6 to be depressed to its lowermost position and enter the slot or recess 5 in the shaft 3. When it is desired to release the shaft 3,

the eye hook is rotated approximately so that the earns 17 and 18 raise the plate 9 and consequently the pin 6 and remove the pin from the recess 5.

In operation the anchor is dropped overboard and the craft positioned with respect to the anchor such that the anchor eye 12 remains aligned with the hollow cylindrical body 1. In this position the cams 17 and 18 have their cam surfaces disposed parallel to the plate 9 and the pin 6 is depressed by the spring 10 into the recess 5, thereby locking the shaft 3 in a fixed position. In order to break the anchor loose from the bed of the body of water, the craft is moved so that the cable eye 12 assumes an angle approaching 90 with respect to the hollow cylinder 1, in which case the cams 17 and 18 are disposed perpendicular to the plate 9 and raise it against the pressure of the spring 10. Raising of the 3 spring biased pin and an anchor cable eye having simple cam assemblies formed on the portions of the cable eye extending into the cylinder 1; that is, the portions of the eye which connect to the body of the anchor.

While 1 have described and illustrated one specific embodiment of my invention, it will be clear that variations of the general arrangement and of the details of construction which are specifically illustrated and described may be resorted to without departing from the true spirit and scope of. the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What we claim is:

l. A rolling anchor comprising a hollow cylindrical body, a hollow hub secured to one end of said body and perpendicular thereto, a shaft disposed within said hollow hub, a plurality of fluke assemblies mounted on either end of said shaft, a pin disposed centrally of said hollow cylindrical body and reciprocatable therein, a recess in said shaft aligned with said pin and having a limited arcuate. length about the circumference of said shaft, a head on one end of said pin remote from said shaft, a spring for depressing said pin into said recess, a cable eyeextending into said hollow cylindrical body at diametrically opposed points of said hollow cylinder, said eye being rotatable with respect to said hollow cylindrical body and cam means secured to the portions of said eye extending into said body for engaging said head and raising said pin upon said eye obtaining a predetermined rotational position with respect to said hollow body.

2. A rolling anchor comprising a hollow cylindrical body, a hollow hub perpendicular to and secured to one end of said hollow cylindrical body, a shaft rotatably mounted in said hub and extending outwardly from either end of said hub, a fluke assembly secured to each of the ends of said shaft extending outwardly from said hub, a pin slidably mounted within said hollow cylindrical body, said shaft having a recess aligned with the path of reciprocating movement of said pin and having a limited arcuate length about the circumference of said shaft, a head on one end of said pin remote from said shaft, a spring for biasing said pin toward said recess in said shaft, an anchor eye having arms extending into i said hollow cylindrical body at' diametrically opposed body, a hollow hub disposed perpendicular to and Se cured to said one end of said hollow cylindrical body, a shaft rotatably disposed within said hub and extending I outwardly from both ends thereof, a plurality of flukes secured to both of said ends of said shaft, a pin reciprocatably mounted within said hollow cylindrical body along the axis thereof, a recess disposed in said shaft in the path of reciprocation of said pin, said recess having a limited arcuate length about the circumference of said shaft, a plate secured to an end of said pin remote fioin said shaft, said plate being perpendicular to said pin,a compression spring. engaging said plate for biasing said pin into said recess, an anchor cable eye havingarms extending through diametrically opposed openings in said cylinder and into the interior thereof, said anchor eye being rotatable about said arms, and cam means secured tosaid arm interiorly of said hollow cylindrical body for raising said plate against the force of said spring when said anchor eye obtains a predetermined position with respect to said hollow cylindrical body, thereby to withdraw said pin from said recess.

4; The combination in accordance with claim 3 wherein said cam means each comprise a cross member secured to the inner end of its associated anchor cable eye arm I and disposed perpendicular to a plane passing through References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Newby Feb. 11, 1947 Jones Feb. 24, 1953 

